 ANKARA - TurkeyÂ’s parliament was expected later on Tuesday to approve the deployment of hundreds of troops to join a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but thousands of protesters took to the streets to oppose the mission.
Many in the Muslim but secular country are concerned the UN force, due to enforce an Israel-Hezbollah truce, would mainly serve Israeli and US interests and that troops may have to fire at fellow Muslims. The left was also vehemently opposed. ‘We will not become Israeli soldiers’ and ‘Murderer USA get out of the Middle East’ chanted leftists protesting in a street near parliament. Several demonstrators were detained by police.
| To be thumped by leather-handled, hard-wood truncheons. |
But there was not the scale of public opposition seen in 2003 when legislators rejected a government plan to allow US forces to use Turkey as a staging post to invade Iraq.
Lebanon, the United States and Israel want NATO member Turkey to contribute troops and see soldiers from Muslim countries improving the UN forceÂ’s image in the region. Opposition parties accused the government of being a US and Israeli stooge and said Ankara should concentrate on crushing separatist Kurdish rebels, many hiding in north Iraq.
| Something they haven't been able to do which the opposition knows; it's the old "you can't do B until A is done, and A is impossible to do" trick. |
TurkeyÂ’s close ties with Lebanon and Iraq as well as Israel make it unique in the region, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is keen to boost his countryÂ’s role as a powerbroker in the Middle East. Erdogan has campaigned hard to win support for the deployment, designed to help the United Nations police the ceasefire that halted IsraelÂ’s 34-day war against Hezbollah on Aug. 14. His AK Party holds 355 seats in the 550-seat assembly.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told legislators that sending troops to Lebanon would help bring peace and stability to the region, a move which would ultimately benefit Turkey. Turkey is seeking to join the European Union and diplomats say any Turkish involvement in the UN force would be welcomed in Brussels.
| The French will take your offer and not leave change on the night table. |
TuesdayÂ’s vote comes amid a rise in anti-Israeli sentiment in Turkey. Members of the AK Party, whose leadership has roots in political Islam, have lambasted Israel for its war against the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group.
Turkey plans to contribute a naval force to patrol waters off Lebanon and to help train the Lebanese army. Gul has said the troops would probably not number more than 1,000 and would not be a combat force.
| Which makes them pretty much useless, which he knows. |
Wary of alienating his partyÂ’s conservative base before national elections next year and the rise in nationalist sentiment, Erdogan has said Turkish troops would pull out if asked to disarm Hezbollah.
| Because they can't disarm fellow Muslims. |
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